WHAT IF?
I do not own Doctor Who and I am not making any profit off of this.
This story is set in my War of the Guardians universe and takes place not long after The Further Adventures of River Song Chapter 35 in terms of continuity. You won't have to have read that story though in order to understand it.
"Well, Doctor, where to next? How about the Planet of the Chips?" Rose asked with a malicious grin on her face.
"No, definitely not! The last time that I took you there you had a massive stomach ache that you complained about for days. Sometimes you have a serious impulse control problem, Rose," the Doctor chastised her with a smile on his face.
"Me? That's rich coming from you, Mister. You're the one that has to 'borrow' every fez that he comes across and put it on immediately. I seem to remember that little habit of yours got you into some real trouble recently. I just barely talked Ace out of blowing you sky high after you stole hers out of her room on the TARDIS. I've never seen her so mad before. I have to admit that the look of terror on your face was priceless though," Rose said laughing.
"That was a complete misunderstanding. I was going to return it later. I was just trying it on to see if it fit me. I was going to see if I could find one just like it somewhere else," the Doctor hastily said as he defended himself.
"Yeah, sure, Doctor. Ace didn't believe that one either. The only reason she didn't blow you up is because I got in-between you two. I couldn't let her do something that she might regret later as tempting as that might be," Rose said as a wide smile covered her face.
"Oi! You always take her side over mine. Come to think of it you always take everyone's side over mine," the Doctor said pouting.
"Not everyone's, Doctor. I always take up for you when either of my mums puts you down which happens quite a lot," Rose said.
The Doctor smiled as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him and said, "That's true. Neither one of your mums ever did like me from the start. It's nice to not be thrown to the wolves whenever I'm around them especially when their teeth and claws are so nasty and sharp."
Rose pretended to be offended even as she laid her head on his chest as she said, "Are you calling my mums animals?"
"No, of course not. I'd never insult the animals that way," the Doctor said as he gingerly stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head.
Rose looked up at him and smiled as she said, "I should really be angry at you after a cheap shot like that but I'm not. Why is it that I can never stay angry at you? How do you always do that to me?"
"It's because I'm just too cool to stay mad at, Rose. Too cool and much too handsome," the Doctor said smugly.
Rose laughed and then gave him a passionate kiss before saying, "No, it's because I love you too much, Doctor, despite all of your many faults to ever stay mad at you."
"Faults?! What faults? I'm the coolest of the cool and practically perfect in every way. Just call me Mr. Perfect," the Doctor said in a fake angry voice before he returned Rose's kiss.
"Sounds good to me," Rose said as she kissed him back.
Then suddenly this loving scene completely changed in an instant right in front of her eyes as Rose found herself standing with Mickey next to the TARDIS onboard a ship that was very, very familiar to her. She gasped in horror as it slowly dawned on her what must be happening.
"I'm back on the SS Madame de Pompadour!" Rose exclaimed.
"What? Is that what this ship is called? No wonder those robots wanted Reinette's brain so bad. How did you know that, Rose?" Mickey asked.
"No, no, no," Rose said as she could feel that her Vortex powers were gone when she tried to summon them.
"Rose, I'm sure he's coming back. I mean he's the Doctor. He has to have a plan to get back here to us. He wouldn't just strand us here like this," Mickey said as he looked at her in concern.
Rose's heart slumped in her chest as she realized that she was human again and had somehow gone back in time to the day when the Doctor almost got stranded back in the past with Reinette. How was this happening? Did the Doctor still remember who she really was to him like she did or was she doomed to have to repeat her life all over again?
"Rose, it's okay. I know he's coming back. I just know it," Mickey said as he began to look at her with real concern now after seeing the look of sheer terror on her face.
"Mickey, you don't remember, do you?" Rose asked testing him.
"Remember what?" Mickey asked looking at her blankly.
"Martha," Rose said without saying anything more.
"Martha? Who's Martha?" Mickey asked looking at her like he was terrified that she was losing her mind with worry about the Doctor.
"Never mind, Mickey. It's not important right now," Rose said as her mind raced over the possibilities of what might be going on here.
Who or what could have caused this and was there any way out of it?
Luckily she still remembered everything and even retained her Time Lord knowledge somehow despite being human again. She fervently hoped that it wasn't going to start burning her mind up like it had Donna's even as she asked Mickey how long that the Doctor had been gone.
"It's only been a few minutes, Rose. Don't get so upset. It's not like it's been hours," Mickey said as he shook his head at her.
"Always wait five and a half hours," Rose said to herself in a low voice with a small smile.
"What?" Mickey asked not having heard her.
Before she could say anything, several of the more advanced versions of the same Clockwork droids who had just finished trying to kill Reinette that in her time now called themselves the Symmetry began to appear next to them with evil grins on what passed for their faces. Rose now knew that this was a trap and had been the entire time.
The Symmetry had used their ability to travel in time to alter her timestream somehow, and she knew that she had to find some way to reverse whatever it was that they had done before it was too late. Of course stopping them from killing her and Mickey first was going to have to take top priority at the moment.
"Now while you are alone and vulnerable without your powers we will finally destroy you," the Symmetry said as they advanced on Rose threateningly.
"Destroy me? Why are you after me for? I thought you lot were always after River and Mikaela, yeah? What makes me so special? Is it because I'm your latest candidate to be this Evil One that you're always going on about that your prophecies say will destroy you? Is that it? Is that why you're mucking about with my timestream?" Rose asked indignantly even as they surrounded her.
"How do you still remember who you really are?" the Symmetry leader asked in surprise.
"I have absolutely no idea, but I'm certainly not knocking it. That's really thrown an old spanner into the works, hasn't it?" Rose said grinning.
"Rose, what's going on?" Mickey asked as he looked at her in complete confusion.
"Don't worry, Mickey. I'll get us out of this somehow," Rose said as she assumed a fighting stance.
"What are you doing? Who do you think you are anyway, Rose? Do you think that you're going to karate chop them to pieces or something?" Mickey asked as he gave her an incredulous look.
"You might be surprised," Rose said mysteriously as she prepared to use her training at the hands of the venerable Time Lord K'anpo Rimpoche and Torchwood to take them all down if necessary.
"There is no use to fight. You are stranded here on this ship now no matter what you do. We have cut off the Doctor's connection to it by damaging the fireplace that he used to come back here in the original timeline. He will never be able to return to you now. You are completely alone and defenseless," the Symmetry leader said.
"So that's what you've altered. It doesn't matter. I'll still find a way to survive this because even like this the Doctor would be the first one to tell you that I'm never ever defenseless," Rose said confidently.
"I can testify to that," Mickey said as he winced with a memory of Rose kicking her ex-boyfriend Jimmy Stone in a rather sensitive area of his anatomy when she finally got tired of putting up with his terrible behavior towards her.
Jimmy had still walked funny and spoke in a higher octave the last time that he saw him. He had also backed away from Rose in terror and made a high pitched scream like a little girl as he quickly ran away from her as fast as his legs could travel. Mickey couldn't help but smile at that memory. He had never been prouder of Rose than he had been in that moment.
Seeing her facing off against these new robots now with a fearless look on her face though looked like it was about to top even that moment though.
"Come on if you think you're tough enough. I'll show you that neither one of my mums raised me to ever be helpless," Rose said as she waited for the inevitable robotic onslaught.
"Mums?" Mickey asked.
Meanwhile back in France, the Doctor suddenly found himself back in his tenth incarnation's body once more and standing next to Reinette who was looking at him with a curious look on her face. Reinette was pointing toward the fireplace that she had moved after she had just told him that maybe he could get back to Rose and Mickey using it.
The Doctor immediately realized what had happened and began to look at the fireplace in horror as he said out loud, "How is this happening? How can I be Sandshoes again and yet still remember who I am? Does Rose remember everything too?"
Reinette smiled at him as she said, "So you do remember then? Good."
"You remember meeting the much more handsome future me with the bowtie then?" the Doctor asked her in surprise.
"Yes, Doctor. I remember even though I have no idea how, and I'm so glad that you do as well. You're the only one who can fix whatever's been done to change history now because the Guardian powers that Rose gave me are gone. You have to use the fireplace to go back while you still can while I take the slow path just as I did once before," Reinette said.
The Doctor hesitated as he said, "Maybe I could take you back with me this time. It doesn't have to be the way that it was before."
Reinette smiled at him as she said, "No, my dear sweet friend. You cannot go changing time even more. I believe that it's already been changed enough lately by someone else. You must find out who and how. Go now. Thank you for the kind thought however."
Then she gave him a chaste kiss on the lips and he winced as he said, "Reinette, you know that I only love Rose."
"It was just the kiss of a friend, Doctor. Nothing more. Go back to her now before history is changed," Reinette said smiling at him.
As the Doctor tried to reactivate the link to the ship that was in the fireplace, he frowned as it failed to work. He realized in horror what must have already happened.
"The Clockwork androids damaged this link, Reinette. They must have done it before they shut off this time. That's why history has been changed. They've kept me from going back to Rose. I'm trapped here forever," the Doctor said in a terrified voice.
He began to start silently crying even as he tried over and over again to fix the link without success. He began to feel despair like he had never felt before in his life overtake him even as he struggled to keep himself together for Rose's sake.
Reinette put a gentle hand on his shoulder as she said, "Doctor, either you will find a way back to her or she will to you. I know this. The two of you are meant to be together. I knew that from the first moment that I saw her in your mind. Don't worry. You will eventually return to her even if you have to take the slow path in order to do so."
"I wish that I could be as sure about that as you are. I don't even have anywhere to go or any money," the Doctor said in despair as he finally gave up trying to fix the fireplace.
"You can stay with me. Don't worry," Reinette said as she wrapped her arms around him to comfort him.
"Rose would probably slap my face off if she saw this right now," the Doctor had to admit with a small laugh in-between his tears.
"No doubt. I can't blame her for being so jealous though even if she never needs to worry about me," Reinette said as she rested his head on her shoulder as he continued to silently sob.
"I'm sorry. I'll stop in a minute," the Doctor said apologetically.
"It's okay. I understand, Doctor. She's your entire world. I felt that way about someone too once, but I made the mistake of letting them go," Reinette said.
The Doctor looked at her questioningly as she said, "Don't worry. It's not you, Doctor. I'm only here to provide a shoulder to cry on and any other support that I can."
"Thank you," the Doctor said.
"You would do the same for me. Now come with me. I'll find you a separate room to stay in. Maybe I can get you a position in Louis' court if you have to stay here for a while," Reinette said as she led him by the hand away from the fireplace.
Both of them were stunned to hear a very familiar voice say, "Hold on a minute, Mr. Chin. You don't get to give up that easily just because she tells you to."
They turned around to see Clara standing there wearing a dress and hair style similar to Reinette's, and the Doctor smiled at her as he said, "You look ridiculous in that. How did you get here anyway? Did Rose bring you?"
"No, she didn't. I have no idea where Rose is. I had no idea where you were either until just now. I suddenly found myself in my echo Clare's body for no reason when just a few minutes ago I was at home in bed. Then I suddenly remembered that Clare lived in the same time and place as Reinette and followed a hunch. It's a good thing that I did too. I came just in time to see her give you a kiss and talk you out of trying to go back. Some friend you are to Rose, Reinette," Clara said.
"No, it wasn't like that. I tried but I can't fix the fireplace this time," the Doctor protested.
"What about the kiss, huh?" Clara asked.
"It was just the kiss of a friend, Clara. It meant nothing but that. Let me show you how I kissed him," Reinette said.
Then she gave Clara a chaste kiss on the lips that made her eyes widen in surprise at first and then put a frown on her face.
"That was it? That felt like I was getting a kiss from my aunt," Clara said.
"You sound almost disappointed," the Doctor said grinning.
"Shut up, Pretty Boy! No, it's not that. I just thought that a kiss from Madame de Pompadour would be a lot different,' Clara said.
"I think of you as a friend only, Clara, just as I do the Doctor. That was the exact same way that I kissed him just now," Reinette said.
"Why did you back away from her like that then?" Clara asked the Doctor.
"Any kiss from anyone who isn't Rose feels wrong even an innocent one," the Doctor said.
"I kiss you all the time," Clara said confused.
"Not on the lips," the Doctor pointed out.
"That's true. If it was just a kiss like that one though, then I don't see anything wrong with it. I think Rose will forgive you for it. At least now you're not the only one who can brag and say that they snogged a major historical figure. Now go ahead and get back to fixing that fireplace, Doctor," Clara said.
"I've already told you that I can't. The robots did something to it that they didn't before in the original timeline," the Doctor protested.
"Nonsense. You're just not trying hard enough. Sometimes all you need to do is give things a good kick first before they'll work," Clara said as she gave the fireplace a swift kick as hard as she could.
The Doctor grinned like a schoolboy as his sonic suddenly showed that the connection to the ship was now working once more. He grabbed Clara and hugged her tightly as he kissed her forehead affectionately.
"You came through for me again! My Impossible Girl!" the Doctor said with joy as he spun her around in his arms.
Clara smiled at him as she said, "That's what I'm here for, Chinless. Now go back out there and fix things so that you can become my Chin Boy again."
"Yes, Ma'am," the Doctor said.
Then he hesitated as he said to Clara, "What about you though?"
"I'm sure I'll be fine. Hopefully whatever brought me here will send me back as soon as you fix things," Clara said.
"If she isn't, I'll take care of her until you can find a way to get her back," Reinette promised.
"Thanks," Both the Doctor and Clara said at the same time.
Reinette laughed as she said, "You even talk at the same time sometimes now since Trenzalore."
"We do not," They both said at the same time again.
"Rose is right. You are his second wife in all but name," Reinette said laughing.
"I don't feel that way about her," the Doctor protested.
"I definitely don't feel that way about him either," Clara said firmly.
"I know that you have a platonic relationship. I was never questioning that. You've only ever had eyes for one woman your entire life, Doctor. More's the pity," Reinette said with an evil smile.
"Reinette," the Doctor said with a sigh.
"I'm only joking of course. Go now. Fix this and set time back on its proper course," Reinette said.
"I just wish that I knew what was going on here. I wonder if I'll ever know," the Doctor said as he went back inside the fireplace.
Suddenly the Doctor and Rose were back in the TARDIS again and both of them looked at each other in stunned silence for a moment before they ran into each other's arms and started kissing passionately. They kissed for several moments without stopping even as the phone started to ring over and over again and wouldn't stop.
Finally Reinette and Clara entered the Console Room and stood watching the two Time Lords kiss for several moments until Clara finally cleared her throat very loudly. Rose and the Doctor then pulled away from one another with a huge grin on their faces as they continued to hold hands.
"So will anyone explain to me just what that was?" Clara asked.
"So you know about it too?" Rose asked Clara and Reinette in surprise.
"Yes, Clara was there as one of her echoes, and both she and Reinette remembered everything somehow and so did I," the Doctor explained.
"I did too but Mickey didn't. The Symmetry tried to kill me, but I beat them all. They thought that I was helpless because I wasn't the Bad Wolf, but I proved them wrong. I gave them an up and close and personal view of the Tyler slap among many other old fighting moves of mine," Rose said proudly.
"Those poor things," the Doctor said as he shivered.
"Oi! Do you want a bit of the Tyler slap too?" Rose joked.
"N-no, no!" the Doctor said quickly as he held up his hands in front of him defensively.
Rose smiled and kissed him as she said, "I didn't think so. Don't mess with me, Doctor. I'm on fire today."
"Maybe I shouldn't tell her about the kiss then," Clara said evilly.
"Kiss?!" Rose said as her eyes went wide as she realized that the Doctor had been trapped alone with Reinette for who knew how long.
"It was nothing, Rose. She kissed Clara too, and Clara said it was nothing," the Doctor said as he began to back away from her.
"What? Is there something that I should know about, Clara?" Rose said more amused now than worried.
"Shut up! It was nothing. It was totally innocent," Clara protested.
"That's right. It was for me too," the Doctor said.
"I just demonstrated to her how I kissed him is all since she thought that there was something more going on. I kiss all of my friends that way," Reinette said.
"I hope not. I wouldn't feel right kissing anyone but the Doctor," Rose said.
"I'm aware of that. I'm also aware of how much he loves you. He broke down in my arms talking about you. He just kept worrying about never being able to see you again," Reinette said.
Rose silently sighed in relief as she smiled at the Doctor and said with a grin, "You can't go five minutes without me, can you?"
"No, I can't and don't you ever forget it. I'd just be a horrible mess without you," the Doctor said as he held Rose close to him.
"I can go five and a half hours without you though. I'm tougher," Rose said joking.
Suddenly they heard the TARDIS voice mail go off as Mickey started to leave a message. It started with, "Rose, why am I suddenly having memories of you smashing a bunch of Clockwork robots with your bare hands that I never remembered before? Are you okay? I remember now that you were really freaking out about not being with the Doctor back on that ship that they were on, and he'd only been gone just a few minutes."
"So, you're tougher, huh?" the Doctor asked smugly.
"Oh, just shut up and kiss me," Rose said.
"Gladly," the Doctor said as the two Time Lords began to kiss once more.
Reinette smiled as she said, "I think that now that I know that you're all okay that I'll just go now."
She received no response at all whatsoever and Clara laughed as she said, "I don't think that they're liable to hear you any time soon. Can you take me home now?"
"Of course," Reinette said as she took Clara's hand.
"I'd still like to know how we all remembered everything and how I got there. I thought that Rose might know, but she was just as much in the dark as we were. Do you think that we'll ever know?" Clara asked.
Reinette smiled as she said, "I suspect that even the universe prefers them together instead of apart."
"Maybe. I guess it's as good an explanation as any I suppose," Clara said skeptically as the two of them left the Doctor and Rose kissing alone in the TARDIS once more.
All was as it had been before when all of this had started, and a peaceful sigh of relief could be felt throughout the universe by all of the higher powers. They too shared in the universe's relief.
After all, a universe where the Doctor and Rose weren't together was truly unimaginable.